I Will Never Forget
by RachelleDelacour
Summary: A young Beauxbatons student stumbles across the chance of a lifetime and in it, finds adventure, love, and knowledge she will never forget. (Could I make a cheesier summary?)
1. Default Chapter

Even to this day, almost fifty years later, I remember everything. Every word uttered, every smell, every feeling of excitement and despair. Ever since I had turned sixteen I vowed to myself that I would never forget. I never forgot him. I never forgot who did it. And I will never forget why it happened.

"Rachelle?" someone shook me awake. I swatted at whoever it was, feeling outraged that they had the nerve to interrupt me from my slumber. "Rachelle!" they barked again, "You're going to be late for class!" I sheepishly swatted again and pulled my silk blanket over my face and tucked it under my head. That rude someone groaned, and pulled the blanket completely off of me, and I shot up. "Give me five minutes! All I ask for is FIVE MINUTES!" I screamed, not even opening my eyes yet. The person who took my blanket laughed. In front of me I saw a pretty girl with black, curly hair, dark skin, dazzling, sea green eyes, and a bright smile to match, dressed already in her light, button-up shirt and pleated light-blue skirt. "What t-time is it?" I tried to say through a large yawn. "Ten minutes until potions," she replied, with a look on her face that screamed superiority. I let out a small scream, and ran to my dresser to get ready. "As together as you may seem, you really need me. What would you do without your best friend?" she chuckled, that same look covering her face. "Oh, shut it, Sophie."

I grabbed my brush and quickly ran it through my hair. At fifteen years old and in my fifth year at Beauxbatons Academy of Wizardry, just like all the other girls of my age, I was quite unsatisfied with my appearance. When I look back today I have to laugh at all that time I spent envying my sister. She was absolutely breathtaking, but I wasn't too bad myself. I had just gotten out of an awkward stage, but I carried around that outlook on myself and that same lack of self-confidence for most of my youth. Pity, because I had a soft sheet of golden blonde hair, fair skin, a trim figure, and sparking light blue eyes. I slipped on the same uniform that my friend was sporting, grabbed my school things, and ran out of our dormitory.

I still remember the atmosphere of that day. The sun streamed through the tall, glass windows of Beauxbatons and played upon the white plaster that covered the castle. Sea breeze streamed in through the windows and graced us students with a splash of bliss. Usually, the students could be found running up and down the corridors, laughing, always cheerful. But that day, everything seemed anxious. Students congregated in clusters, buzzing back and forth from group to group. There seemed to be the same thing on everyone's lips, "the tournament." I thought it to be a large quidditch tournament that we had every so often, so I brushed it off. However, I did catch another phrase, flying every which-way, weaving between assemblages and turning heads wherever it flew, "They'll tell us tonight."

My classes seemed to go as slowly as possible in anticipation for dinner that night. When dinner finally came upon me, I was practically dying. My usual dinner table, which regularly would have been loud with laughter and my obnoxious friends, and I mean that in the best possible way, was subdued and jittery. After what seemed like hours, our headmistress, Madame Maxine, gently tapped her champagne flute with her wand and rose to speak.

Twice the size of a normal woman, when she rose, she towered above the other professors. She was magnificent, though. Like a mother to all of us. That night, she wore a light green silk robe, had her hair tied up in a knot in the back of her head, and wore many glittering pieces of jade jewelry to match her robes. She batted her long eyelashes and parted her voluminous lips gently to speak in fluent French, as we all did at Beauxbatons. "As you all have probably heard, there is said to be a competition this fall. There has been quite a lot of trouble from the ministry of Great Britain to arrange this, and I'm sure you are just as excited as they. This year Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry is going to hold the Triwizard Tournament!" At these words, a tumultuous buzzing from the students broke out. "Silence!" Madame Maxine snapped, and continued. "Students above the fourth year are urged to enter. One student from our lovely Beauxbatons will be selected by an impartial judge, and compete against two other young wizards, one from Hogwarts, and one from Durmstrang. They will be put through a series of tasks to test their knowledge, logic, courage, and skill as a wizard, and the one who comes out on top will be crowned Triwizard Champion! A group of, say, fifty students will travel to Hogwarts next week and stay for the remainder of the year there. The students thought to be mature and wise enough to go will be announced within the next week. Good luck, and good night!"

"Promise to write every day?"

"Yes, Sophie, I promise"

I grinned and hugged my crying best friend. Though she boasted of keeping me together, I wondered how she'd fare without me. As I bid goodbye to the last of my friends, I heard a voice behind me.

"Rachelle, the coach is leaving!"

I sighed, exasperatedly, and turned around. Behind me was my sister, Fleur. In her seventh and final year at Beauxbatons, she was what I and most of our school considered perfection. She was at the top of her class, kind, popular, and beautiful. I looked quite a bit like her, though our Veela blood showed more in her. Instead of having golden hair like mine, hers was silvery-blonde. Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue, and her skin glowed more than mine. Oh, how I envied her.

She quickly placed a levitation charm upon my luggage and gestured for it to follow us. I rolled by eyes and hugged my friends again. I was the only one of my friends who was going to Hogwarts, and very sad about it. Thinking back, I _was_ rather popular and quite alike my sister, though I was too blind to see it. I flew up the stairs of the carriage, and clutching my silver, silky Beauxbatons robe together, I waved to my friends, and entered the carriage. The carriage, though fairly sized, was gigantic inside. It had a large living room, and dormitories for all fifty students attending the journey. My sister and a group of her friends had already seated themselves in a grouping of squishy chairs. She signaled for me to come over to her. "Rachelle, have you completed that drawing yet?" Fleur's current boyfriend, a tall, tanned boy with a smile and eyes that made me melt, asked. I nodded, and pulled my sketchpad out of my bag. I was very artistically gifted, and was proud to show anyone possible the small talent that separated me from my sister. I was artistic, talented in quidditch, and rather boyish, and my sister attracted men like there was no tomorrow. I've always thought our grandmother's Veela blood showed more in her than I. Fleur's boyfriend complimented me on the picture I had drawn of Fleur and him together. I had drawn Fleur and whatever boyfriend she had at the time so often that I drew one picture of Fleur, used a duplicating charm upon it, and drew in the significant other. Fleur noticed this, and winked at me.

After a few minutes, I felt my stomach lurch foreword as our carriage began to descend. One of Fleur's friends grabbed my hands in excitement. For the last week, I had a grim outlook upon this tournament because I knew Fleur would become Champion and I would cower in comparison to her, once again, but at that moment, I began to channel the excitement that filled the carriage to the brim. We felt a gentle bump, and the carriage door swung open.


	2. Hogwarts: A Beginning

A blast of cold air greeted us. It weaved between the students and found me, sending chills up and down my spine. Fleur conjured a muffler and warm jacket that wrapped around my uniform that was designed for the warm weather of the south of France. Madame Maxine adjusted her bravura costume de jour, and with her head held high, stepped out of the carriage. She elegantly walked foreword, and Fleur, my hand in hers, lead me out of the coach behind her. We gathered behind Madame Maxine, who was talking to a tall, old man who had a wise aura about him. Madame paused from her fawning over the old man and nonchalantly gestured her hand behind her and said, "My pupils." We saw a few hundred heads turn towards us. The Hogwarts students began pointing and chattering softly. Fleur, her friends, and I huddled together to stay warm. I looked up at the Hogwarts castle, which was a gorgeous castle that looked like it came straight out of the fourteenth century, and saw it was covered in snow. I groaned: I hated cold.

Madame began to lead us inside the castle and I gratefully followed. The castle was just as beautiful inside as outside. We found ourselves in a great room covered in the Hogwarts crest, paintings, and banners. A bit later, the old man Madame had been talking to lead us into another great hall, this one a dining one. Four long tables began to fill with Hogwarts students. As I wondered where I would sit, I squinted, and my eyes fell upon a familiar face. I grinned and ran over to her. She noticed me, and stood up from the table to run over to me.

"Hermione!" I exclaimed and wrapped my arms around her. "Rachelle!" she squealed back. I stepped back to look at how she had grown. She looked almost exactly the same- warm brown eyes, cheerful smile, and slightly less bushy brown hair since I had last seen her. It had been a year since I had met her on her vacation to France. I identified with her determination and loved hearing of her adventures with her two close friends. We kept in constant contact since I met her, but I had conveniently forgotten to mention that I was coming.

"Rachelle! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Hermione said sternly, but still looked happy to see me as she lead me over to where she was sitting. I explained that I wanted to surprise her, and we sat down. A boy with bright red hair and a lot of freckles to match looked up at me and a dumb expression came over his face. "Rachelle, this is Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Ron, Harry, this is Rachelle Delacour," she introduced me to her two best friends. I had heard quite a lot about them, but still I looked up above Harry's eyes as I greeted him to see that famous lightening-shaped scar. Everyone knew about him: how his parents were killed by one of the most terrible wizards, Lord Voldemort, and he survived, barely a year old, the same curse that killed his parents. He had jet black hair and brilliant green eyes, just like I had heard, but one fact that I hadn't learned was how good looking he was. He had a bright smile, strong jaw, and nice build. Hermione's other friend, Ron, wasn't terribly bad looking, either. I smiled to myself and thought, "I think I'm going to like it here."

"How do you know each other?" Ron asked Hermione, that same dumb look across his face. She explained how we had met and I noticed that my sister and her friends had found a table to sit at, and of course, all the boys were gaping at her. I helped myself to the food that had appeared in front of us. I simply adored British cuisine. "Quite an appetite you have there," said a voice from beside me. I removed my jacket and muffler, and grinned. I turned to my right to see a boy who resembled Ron but looked a few years older with the same dumb expression upon his face. Once again, I feel silly now thinking back. Despite how many boys gaped at me, I refused to notice. I liked pitying myself in not inheriting the same genes as Fleur, thank you very much. I looked across from the boy who was staring at you to see a carbon-copy of him. "Rachelle, this is Fred and George, my brothers." Ron told me what I didn't need to hear. "Delighted to make your acquaintance" the twin next to me said, seized my hand, and kissed it. "No, the pleasure's all mine," the twin across from him snatched my hand, and kissed it as well.

"Oh, really boys. Try not to drool" Hermione snapped. I took back my hand and smiled. Dinner was heavenly, and I noticed that Hogwarts was brimming with attractive guys. "All the more for Fleur to have," I thought, glumly. After a filling meal and enjoyable conversation with Hermione and her friends, I got up from the table and began to follow Hermione out of the room. The twins jumped in front of me to block me from walking any further. "Rachelle, how lovely it is to see you again. We have some friends we'd like you to meet," they announced, taking turns in finishing each other's sentences. They parted to show a group of teenagers, around my age or older. "This is Lee Jordan," they gestured to a boy with dreads who winked at me, "Oliver Wood," they showed a tall, gorgeous, burly boy with rich brown eyes who smiled nervously, "Alicia Spinet," a girl with a cheerful face and long brown hair waved, "Angelina Johnson," a tall girl with braids smiled quickly, "and Katie Bell," a pretty girl with blonde hair grinned. "They're all in Gryffindor, so they'll be seeing you around," one of the twins informed me. "I should hope so" the boy with the dreadlocks nudged the boy named Oliver. I smiled, and resumed talking to Hermione. Oh yes, this was going to be a great year.

The next morning, I awoke quite a bit earlier than usual. I stretched and made my way over to one of the three showers all twenty-five teenage girls shared. I laughed to myself in my good fortune that I had awoken so early. However, I didn't think it was luck. I was excited for my first day of classes with the Hogwarts students. I turned on the water as hot as possible and melt away the tension that came with the excitement of my first day. Twenty minutes later, I grabbed for my towel and realized that I had forgotten to get one. I pulled on my bathrobe, and sopping wet, walked out of the girls dormitory to the linen closed between the girls and boys dormitories.

"I see you forgot a towel" a deep voice from behind me purred. I whipped around to see Fleur's boyfriend, Guillain, reaching for a towel behind me. He was so close, and his arm lowered to on my back, as his other hand pulled the back of my face towards his. His lips roughly met mine, and closing my eyes, I dissolved into him. As if I slapped myself in the face, my eyes shot open, and I pushed him away. "Guillain! How could you?" I grabbed my towel and ran into the girls dormitory. I wiped my mouth, disgusted. I hated myself. How could I? I was terrible when it came to boys. I wasn't easy, but I often found myself giving into what boys wanted. I dressed, and ran over to the sink to brush my teeth, rather more vigorously than I would have normally.

"In a bit of a rush?" Fleur said, laughing at my vitality. I nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact. I couldn't look at her; I had just betrayed her. I spit out the last remnants of Guillain, hoping my guilt would go along with it.

My first lessons had gone swimmingly well, despite the upset feeling I had in my stomach from the morning's events. Because of my academic level, I was placed in sixth year classes. My professors were pleasant (with the exception of the Potions Master), and my classes all had Fred, George, Alicia, and Katie. The twins were quite the double act, but I knew I would have enjoyed it so much more if I hadn't kept thinking of Guillain. Guillain was a great guy, and I would have loved to kiss him if he wasn't dating my sister. However, now that he had betrayed her, I thought he was lower than low. I tried to keep myself as busy as possible to keep my thoughts from him, but the feeling of his lips kept coming back to mine. Katie noticed this, and asked me what was wrong. I was never good at keeping anything, and I needed to tell someone so badly. I spilled. "I kissed my sister's boyfriend. Well, it was more like he kissed me. But I feel sick from it." Katie looked taken aback from my sudden sharing, but she was sympathetic nonetheless. "What a codger! Have you told your sister?" "Err.. well, no. I couldn't." I hesitated. Katie urged me to tell, but I knew I couldn't. Besides, she would move on to another guy soon enough. I felt loads better after telling Katie. Since I had broken the ice, she and Alicia were wonderful towards me. I was telling them about Beauxbatons while walking to lunch, and ran into the boy named Oliver I had met the previous night. Literally ran into him. I apologized, and Katie said, "Oh Oliver! Get your mind off quidditch and look where you're going!" Oliver replied, "For that comment, we'll have an extra hard practice tonight," in a thick, Scottish accent. Alicia and Katie groaned. "You guys play quidditch?" I asked. They nodded, and Alicia pointed to Oliver and said, "He's our captain. A little too obsessed if you ask me." "And how much harder do you want practice to be?" he teased. I laughed. "I played quidditch at Beauxbatons. I was the captain, too," I smiled at Oliver. He looked me in the eyes, and I felt my chest tighten. His rich, brown eyes met mine and I felt as if he was looking past my eyes. I blinked, and saw Alicia and Katie looking smug at me. He apologized softly again, and took off in the opposite direction of us. We continued walking, and they still wore that look. "What?" I asked them. They exchanged glances. "Oh, nothing."


	3. You Are Stellar

Over the next couple of days, I found life at Hogwarts wonderful. I became great friends with Alicia, Katie, Fred, and George through my classes and I spent all the time between classes with them possible. I also became fast friends with Ron and Harry from the time I spent after classes in the Gryffindor common room with them and Hermione. However, I wanted to get to know Oliver better. I would smile and greet him when I passed him in the corridors, yet I never got to talk to him like I wished I could. Katie and Alicia noticed this, too.

One night I crawled into my warm bed in the carriage. My bed was right next to Fleur's, and I watched her sleep and said quietly, "I'm so sorry." I hugged my pillow, and my hand grazed a piece of paper underneath it. I snatched it up and read it, a huge grin upon my face. I laid back down, and fell asleep. A few hours later, I awoke, and blinked down at my watch. "12:28" it angrily blinked at me back. I hugged my pillow and thought over what I was doing. You sat up, and ran a hand through my beautiful, long locks. I checked my watch again. "12:29" it glared at me. "One minute" I whispered. I sang a tune that popped into my head. I checked my watch once more. "12:30" it happily glowed. I pulled back my covers and hopped out of bed, and strolled over to the closest window.

I opened the window, and saw myself face-to-face with Oliver Wood. "Ready?" he asked me. "Of course" I replied, beaming.

I climbed onto Oliver's broom clutching onto the front of it. Oliver leaned into me, placing his arms under mine. Suddenly, we took off at breakneck speed. Laughing, I yelled to him over the roar of the breeze in my ears, "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I missed flying!" "No problem. I'd actually been thinking of asking you to do this for a while, but you asked first" Oliver shouted back. Confused, I shouted back, craning my neck to face him, "What?" I noticed that my face was inches from his. He looked right into my eyes.. almost past them, like he did before. Abruptly, I noticed that we had stopped, but we were not on ground. Oliver reached up to a golden hoop that he had parked his broom next to. As he reached up, his shirt lifts, and I noticed that he is pleasantly muscular. He pulled himself up, and sat upon the hoop. He offered me his hand and pulled me up. He placed his arm behind my back so I didn't fall backwards. The sky was beautiful that night: a deep, rich navy color with a million glittering diamonds for stars. "So, why did you ask me to do this for you? Fred and George are excellent flyers, and the three of us are terrible in comparison to Harry." Oliver asked softly. "What? You asked me to come! You left a note under my pillow saying you wanted to show me something-" Something clicked into place and I realized what happened. "Alicia and Katie set us up" I laughed, and Oliver chuckled nervously. I noticed that he looked slightly disheartened by this. "But I had wanted to get to know you, so I'm glad they did this" I said, quickly, not wanting Oliver to think I didn't want to come. "Seriously? Why?" he asked. "You really want to know?" I said, still looking at the stars. "The way you look at me.. and I noticed that you didn't look the same way at my sister. I vowed whomever did that I'd have to marry. So why did you come?" I glanced at Oliver. "Since the first day I saw you I knew you were something else. How do you do it?" he asked. I laughed, "Do what?" "Make me feel like you do! Firstly, we meet in outer space." I laughed at his metaphor, but I made a mental note of it. "Why, you're gorgeous, smart, nice, funny as hell-" "Oooh!" I cut him off, "Shooting star!" I screwed up my eyes in concentration and made a wish. I slowly opened one eye to see what Oliver was doing, and I saw him looking at me. "You are stellar" he said gently. I turned towards him, and he looked at me in that way that made me melt. I felt myself leaning in towards him. Our lips met gently, and I closed my eyes, taking in every moment.

Note: I know some of the parts of this chapter our from the Incubus song, "Stellar." In no way am I trying to copy this song. I think it's a wonderful song, and I think everyone should listen to it. I would never try to plagiarize. I just thought the lyrics would fit nicely here.. and it'll come into play later, trust me.


End file.
